Location: | Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon |
| Geographic coordinates: | 10 00 N, 8 00 E |
| Map references: | Africa |
| Area: | total: 923,768 sq km
water: 13,000 sq km
land: 910,768 sq km |
| Area - comparative: | slightly more than twice the size of California |
| Land boundaries: | total: 4,047 km
border countries: Benin 773 km, Cameroon 1,690 km, Chad 87 km, Niger 1,497 km |
| Coastline: | 853 km |
| Maritime claims: | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation |
| Climate: | varies; equatorial in south, tropical in center, arid in north |
| Terrain: | southern lowlands merge into central hills and plateaus; mountains in southeast, plains in north |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: Chappal Waddi 2,419 m |
| Natural resources: | natural gas, petroleum, tin, columbite, iron ore, coal, limestone, lead, zinc, arable land |
| Land use: | arable land: 31.29%
permanent crops: 2.96%
other: 65.75% (2001) |
| Irrigated land: | 2,330 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Natural hazards: | periodic droughts; flooding |
| Environment - current issues: | soil degradation; rapid deforestation; urban air and water pollution; desertification; oil pollution - water, air, and soil; has suffered serious damage from oil spills; loss of arable land; rapid urbanization |
| Environment - international agreements: | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - note: | the Niger enters the country in the northwest and flows southward through tropical rain forests and swamps to its delta in the Gulf of Guinea
Source: CIA World Factbook
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